The Oxbridge application process

Applying to Oxford and Cambridge Universities (Oxbridge)

This section was written by Simon Harrison, our Head of Economics and a key member of our team of staff who run our Oxbridge Preparation Programme

Introduction

Because of the elite status of Oxford and Cambridge universities, some people are put off from applying, feeling that they won’t be good enough, or won’t fit in. The Oxbridge two however, are at pains to extend access as widely as possible, and are keen to take the best students regardless of background – so if you think you are good enough you should try! Similarly, contrary to popular belief, applying to Oxford is no more expensive than applying to other universities, so again there is no reason to be put off (in addition both universities offer bursary schemes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds). Nevertheless, it is important to realise that the process is very competitive – almost all of the applicants would do well at Oxbridge, but only 24% on average get accepted.

Why apply?

Oxford and Cambridge have reputations as the leading UK universities, and in addition their collegiate nature gives them a very different feel to many other institutions– you get both the advantages of being part of a large university as well as the benefits of being in the intimate environment of a college.

Likewise, although there are lectures in the same way as other universities, the core of the experience comes from the tutorial/supervision system in where you are taught in (usually) pairs by an expert in their field. This means that you will have to work very hard independently, but the rewards of the tutorial system are worth it for most. On top of this, your career prospects will inevitably be enhanced.

Recent research suggests that the most common reasons for current Oxbridge students applying in the first place were teaching methods (64%) and career prospects (77%).

How to apply

The main difference between applying to Oxbridge and most other universities is that you will be considered by a college rather than a university departm**ent. In other words, you are applying for admittance into a college of Oxford or Cambridge universities rather than applying to the university as a whole. Although the Oxbridge two are getting better at sharing information across colleges (especially Cambridge) so that the best candidates are accepted regardless of college, this process is imperfect and college choice therefore remains important.

The process itself is very straightforward. You apply to Oxford or Cambridge (although not both – you can only apply to one or the other, unless you are an accomplished musician applying for a choral scholarship) in the usual way, through UCAS generally by a deadline in mid-October. This means that it is important to complete your UCAS form in good time and to have a well written personal statement (for advice on writing a personal statement click the link).

In addition to the standard UCAS form, you will also fill in a specific form for Oxbridge giving a little more detail on your qualifications and there is a small section where you can add extra comments on college choice and reasons for applying for the course.

At some point after you have submitted your initial application, you may be required to submit some examples of your written work from school. These are not supposed to have been rewritten for Oxbridge application, and do have to have been marked. Best advice here is to get an interesting topic from your teacher, and make sure you research it well.

College choice

The first choice that has to be made here is whether or not to choose! It is possible to make an Open application, where your college is chosen for you at (semi) random by the admissions computer. There are both plus and minus points to this. The plus is firstly you don’t have to worry about it, and secondly that the computer is likely to allocate you to a college that is relatively undersubscribed. The downside is that because the colleges have different characteristics, you may miss out on what might have been your ‘best fit’, and also it gives you less to write about on the Oxbridge supplementary information form.

If you decide to make a positive choice, then there are a number of factors which need to be taken into account:

  1. Does the college offer your subject? An obvious question but not all colleges offer all subjects – go to the universities’ home pages to check (link at the end).
  2. Would you prefer a larger or a smaller college; at Oxford, numbers range from 433 last year at Wadham (in total across the three years) to 229 at Corpus Christi.
  3. Where is the college located – some are right in the city centre, some (such as Girton in Cambridge) a bus ride away.
  4. How your application will be assessed. This often varies between the colleges – some will want to see written work from school, some will give you a test on arrival and so on. The information is on the universities’ website.
  5. What the college feels like – Once you have narrowed down your options, then the College Open Days are an ideal opportunity to meet teaching staff and current undergraduates, and get a feeling for what the college might be like. Some students warm immediately to certain colleges, but are turned off by others.
  6. Accommodation – some colleges offer accommodation for all three years, at others you may have to find your own accommodation for at least one of the years; which do you prefer?
  7. How big is the subject at your chosen college? Is it a vibrant subject with a number of tutors and lots of other students? Or are you likely to be the only one studying if you get in?
  8. How old is the college – do you want a traditional “picture postcard” college, often centrally located but possibly very cold – or a more modern college, possibly with better facilities?
  9. Some students look at applications to place ratios, and apply for those that had a low ratio of applications to places last year. This is a dangerous game. Apart from anything else, everyone else who is applying has access to exactly the same information – there is a clear danger that colleges who had relatively few applicants one year may have many more the next as a result of candidates using this selection method. There are better ways of choosing than this.

Useful sources of information are of course the university’s own prospectus, but bear in mind that this is really just advertising. Better sources of information may be the ‘alternative prospectuses’, written by the students, and giving a more informal angle on college and university life (Oxford or Cambridge). Also discussion and bulletin boards such as The Student Room allow you to post questions to other students, both applying or already there.

The personal statement

This is a very important - it's the only thing that the College gets that from you distinguishing you from any other faceless names with similar AS grades, and may be the only piece of continuous prose that the admissions tutors are going to see. The statement is one page of Times New Roman 12 point long, and the aim should be to fill it (although not with bland padding).

There are a number of views on the purpose of a Personal Statement, but ours is that it is to convince the admissions tutor that you (a) are interested in his/her subject and (b) that you have some understanding of what it will be like to study it at degree level (i.e. how it might vary from A level). A subsidiary purpose is to show that you are a normal person with a standard range of interests.

Thus one possible format is to split the statement about 3/4to 1/4 subject to personal.

The subject section (as a starting point) could be split:

(i) What in the past has led you to the point that you want to study this subject at university - i.e. pre-sixth form experiences which piqued your interest.

(ii) Current subjects. Why do you enjoy them, why are you studying them and how do they reinforce the subject that you want to take at university. This section in itself might form around half of the statement. In here, you will also be demonstrating an awareness of what university level study will involve (e.g. in Economics - "Maths A level has always appealed; I have always been strong, and the clinical nature of the subject, the sense of right or wrong is very satisfying. As a consequence I am sure that I will both cope with and enjoy the more mathematical nature of Economics at degree level" or words to that effect. Hence rolling into one a reasoned explanation of current subjects as well as displaying knowledge of university level courses. This section can also be used to deal with any academic problems from the past - weak GCSEs and so on

(iii) Other supporting evidence. This might include relevant work experience, travel, outside reading. It will vary from subject to subject, but anything that can demonstrate an interest in and understanding of what the subject will be like to study at a higher level and why you might want to do it.

(iv) Future plans (if any) which the subject might be useful for.

The personal section should not be a list of everything you have ever done or all the positions of responsibility you have ever had. Contrary to popular belief, admissions officers couldn't really care less whether or not you were Captain of Football, or a Prefect or whatever, unless you have something to say about it. Thus it is generally better to select a smaller number of things, and talk about why they are important to you/ have influenced you or whatever. A giant list isn't worth the paper it's written on.

The interview and testing

(i) Interviews

Interviews are probably the aspect of the process creating greatest fear in the minds of all Oxbridge interview, and the prospect is daunting – a one on one (or more in the case of panel interviews) grilling by experts can be quite a scary thought.

The reality of course is (usually) very different. Although there are exceptions, the aim of most of the interviewers is to try to get the best that they can from their interviewees. Generally, interviewers try very hard to make you feel comfortable – they want to award places to the best candidates, and they can only do this if you are relaxed enough to think straight. The corollary to this is that when thinking about what to wear, wear what is going to make you confident. The tutors are really not that bothered, so if you feel that you will be most comfortable in a suit, wear a suit. If a suit fills you with horror and loathing, then wear jeans. It doesn’t matter – they are interested in your mind, not your dress sense.

The policy on the number and nature of interviews varies very much from subject to subject and from college to college. Sometimes there will be a general interview and a subject interview, sometimes several subject interviews, occasionally a college interview and a faculty interview and so on. Generally they will write to you letting you know the exact format, although a bit of background research on the internet should be able to turn up what your college did last year.

The first question in any interview will generally be something straightforward, with the aim of relaxing you. “Why do you want to study x” is a common one, alternatives being something from your personal statement. Obviously you should be prepared for this, and should rehearse in your mind answers to standard questions like this.

Beyond that, the aim of the interview is to stretch you. Sometimes, you will have been given something to read just before going in, or you may have been set an in-house written test (see below). If so, it is likely that the early part of the interview will be based around this, because it allows the interviewers to have an objective standard against which to compare candidates.

Generally, interviewers are not that interested in what you have been taught; they want to know how well you can think. Therefore, the interview may well head into uncharted waters fairly quickly, as the interviewers attempt to see how well you can think through unfamiliar situations; this is felt to be a better test of how you will fare in the self-taught environment Oxbridge atmosphere than what you have learned at school. In this area, the main thing to remember is that any question they ask has a purpose, and it is worth considering what follow-up questions may be coming. In arts and social sciences, the interviewer may be probing away to try to back you into a corner/get you to say something contradictory (all in a very friendly way). If you sense that this is happening, it may be worth pausing for thought, or saying that you have reached a position you are not that happy with; this is better than simply allowing yourself to be led down the garden path. At times the interviewer may try to help you out, by pointing you in the right direction – this is not a bad sign; most candidates will need help at some stage in an interview – if you were really a no-hoper, then they would probably just nod and smile at you until the time was up rather than trying to help you out! Some sites where you can get some first hand ideas of the interview process are the Cambridge University Student Union, Oxbridge Admissions, a site written by past and present Oxbridge students.

It is worth remembering that the tutors want you to go away with a positive experience, so just go aiming to be yourself, and to have an interesting time. This is your big opportunity to visit/stay in an Oxbridge college and to cross swords with an Oxbridge tutor – even if you don’t get offered a place, it will be something to remember as a positive experience.

(ii) Testing

Depending on subject, you may be set a written test when you arrive at college. This may be an in-house test designed by the college itself, in which case there is a good chance that your answers may form the starting point for the interview. Alternatively it may be a university-wide test in your subject. At both Oxford and Cambridge there are a variety of tests used in different subject schools:

Cambridge tests

Oxford tests

Extra resources beyond these can be found in a variety of places. For the BMAT and the LNAT, there are commercially available books of practice tests. For the TSA, it is worth trying some of the AS papers in Critical Thinking – indeed, if your school offers this as an AS, it is probably worth taking it. For STEP, there should be lots of past papers around – variants of this qualification have been around for many years. For the others a trawl on the internet should be able to produce pirate versions of tests that have been smuggled out of test rooms by previous applicants.

Conclusion

If you do decide to apply, bear in mind that almost all of the other applicants are very talented as well, and that the information available to the admissions tutors is very limited. Consequently the whole process is something of a lottery. Oxbridge tutors themselves admit that they don’t always get it right – they often get excellent students with 1st class degrees for MSc and DpHIl programmes from other universities who had been rejected at undergraduate level. So: apply, try to enjoy the process and in the end whether you succeed or fail bear in mind that however hard you prepared. Much of it is down to chance.